Come meet cats and dogs available for adoption! Visit our website for a sneak peak of the available Kittens and Cats as well as our available Dogs!
To sign up to Volunteer and/or bring your Foster – click on the following link: Jan.6th Sign Up Sheet
The Humane Society of Loudoun County is partnering with Becky’s Pet Care, Inc., a leading professional pet sitting company serving the Northern Virginia areas. 2018 marks Becky’s Pet Care’s 20 years in business. In honor of adopting a pet through the Humane Society of Loudoun County, Becky’s Pet Care is offering a $20 off promotional discount for any pet sitting service they offer. Adopters will receive a coupon in their Adoption Packets. Becky’s Pet Care current serves the following areas in Loudoun County: Sterling, South Riding, Stone Ridge, Ashburn, and Oak Grove. We will be expanding soon in more Loudoun area cities and divisions.
Becky’s Pet Care – Company History:
“Responding to Northern Virginia’s growing need for professional pet care services, Becky O’Neil founded Becky’s Pet Care, Inc. in her townhouse basement in 1998. Becky was a one-woman show, running the operation as sole proprietor and sole employee. Thanks to her strict professional standards and knack for hiring devoted animal lovers, Becky’s Pet Care rapidly expanded and now occupies three commercial office space locations serving over 3,500 clients. Caring for these clients and their beloved pets are nearly 150 Pet Care Professionals and a fully-staffed administrative office.
Along the road to this stunning success, Becky cultivated a formidable expertise in small business ownership, including personnel management, systemization, marketing, business planning and development, and human resources, all in a concerted effort to render her business interactions efficient and effective for employees and clients alike.
Whether you’re heading out on that quiet island getaway or just need some extra help, Becky’s Pet Care is your Partner-In-Care, helping at home by looking after your dog, cat, or small animal. Just let us know when you need us, and we’ll keep your pets happy while you are away. Our trained Pet Care Professionals have been serving Northern Virginia for 18 years. We guarantee the highest-quality service at an all-inclusive price, which means you don’t have to worry about extra fees for medications or additional pets. We’re professionals, so we only charge you for the time it takes to care for your animal. No matter where in the world you travel to, Becky’s Pet Care will be there every time to keep your pet safe and content at home, with the peace of mind that your pets are in great care.”
Community (or feral) cats are just like those we know and love in our households, with one important difference. Unlike pets or strays, community cats have not been socialized and tend to avoid humans. These cats go about their daily business just like their ancestors did for thousands of years. Unfortunately, they are really, really good at what they do, and left unchecked, community cat populations can expand and cause problems.
HSLC works to control community cat populations in Loudoun County through its Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program. Sharon Nylec has been a volunteer supporting the TNR program since 2004 and talked to us about her experience.
What activities do you support at the Human Society of Loudoun County?
I am active in the TNR program, I am also active in our Loudoun Working Cats program that places community cats with individuals, businesses, or farms that have a rodent problem. And last, but not least, I am a foster. Right now I have a mom cat with five babies, and a teenager kitten.
When did you first get involved and what prompted you to volunteer?
I first got involved with community cats when I started my job as a medical technologist at Inova Loudou
n Hospital in 1998. There were a bunch of resident cats roaming around our back, having litter, after litter, after litter. Every so often the plant operations engineers would load up a box with kittens and ask the hospital employees to adopt them. I adopted one, then another, and finally said this reproduction cycle has GOT to stop. I am at my limit of two cats!!! Of course, that two cat limit is a joke right now!
Anyway, I started doing some research with the local animal rescue groups and Alley Cat Allies, and found out about their Trap Neuter Return program. They sent someone out to help, and I was fascinated with the process. I asked them to teach me how to do it so I could manage the hospital colony, and the rest is history. We went from 20 cats in 1998 to placing our very last kitty in a home in 2016. There aren’t any more cats at the hospital, so as you can see-TNR takes time, but it works!!
After the hospital cats were trapped I looked for a group more local than Alley Cat Allies that had a TNR program, and the Humane Society of Loudoun County (HSLC) was that group.
What do you most enjoy about your volunteer work?
I love working with people who adore their outdoor cats and want to make their lives better and more comfortable. I also like working with hissy, spitty feral kittens and showing them how great human company can be.
What are the challenges/rewards?
There are so many challenges…working with HSLC is a passion of mine, but I also have a job, my own family, and my pets. Trying to find that perfect balance, trying to make it all fit in takes a lot of effort. I truly wish there were more hours in the day so I could squeeze more work in.
Trapping community cats takes a lot of patience and perseverance, too. We have to work with the cats’ schedule, so a lot of times we are out late at night in sketchy neighborhoods or up really early when we could be sleeping in. If it’s a huge cat colony, it can take up to two years to complete it. Some cats are so smart, they learn what a trap is and avoid it. You have to really think outside the box trap to get them!
You also asked about rewards. Oh my, the euphoria you feel when you finally get that last smartypants mommy cat…it’s a rush! Totally worth all the time and effort I put in, just to get that feeling when the trap door closes on the last cat and you can officially say the site is done!! One colony I did had over 50 cats. It took me over two years and we pulled and placed 25 or more kittens. We are still actively caring for that colony because they are too much for the current property owner to handle, but at least they are done! No more babies!
I must also mention another rewarding aspect regarding a different program with HSLC. The foster program gives you all the “feels.” I feel good rescuing kittens from their hard lives outdoors, and I feel good pulling tame, beautiful cats out of high kill shelters. I’ve had many litters of sick kittens that got better because HSLC sponsored their vet care, and it is a thrill when they are finally healthy and get adopted. Honestly, there is nothing better than knowing you made a difference and you saved a life.
What should people do if they see a feral cat?
First of all, is it truly feral? There is a difference between a domesticated stray and true feral. Strays are usually vocal, and may allow you to approach. A true feral would like you to mind your own business and they will just go on about their day, thank you very much. They are furtive, occasionally defensive, and hardly ever vocalize. Regardless of feral or stray, put out a bowl of food for them the same time every day and fill out our TNR request on line at https://humaneloudoun.org/tnr-application/
We will answer your requests and come to assess the cats. If it is indeed a stray, we try to find the owner. If we can’t find the owner or it is feral, we take them to the vet to be spayed, vaccinated, treated for parasites and microchipped to identify their location. It’s an EXCELLENT program! By the way, we take care of the community cats regardless of the caretaker’s ability to pay, but if someone has the means, we do like to mention they can ‘Spay it forward‘.
HELP ANIMALS AND CELEBRATE at Sunset Hills Vineyard’s 9th anniversary at the same time!
HSLC is one of three charities benefiting during their celebration. The vineyard will make a donation for every tasting or purchase during the Anniversary Weekend and you will have the opportunity to designate it to go to HSLC.
The event is both Saturday and Sunday
There will be a special cake cutting on Saturday the 18th at 3 pm.
Join us to learn about the Humane Society of Loudoun County! We will have a presentation on our 501(3)c organization and the ways that you can become involved with us. Mingle with other volunteers while enjoying light refreshments and receive detailed information on our programs.
Please click here to register for this orientation session.
Come meet cats and dogs available for adoption! Visit our website for a sneak peak of the available Kittens and Cats as well as our available Dogs!
To sign up to Volunteer and/or bring your Foster – click on the following link: Nov. 18th Adoption Event Sign-Up
Each Humane Society is an independent organization; “Humane Society” is just a descriptive word — like the word ‘bank’ is in US Bank and Bank of America. They are not connected to each other. It can be confusing!
Many people even mistakenly think that the Humane Society of the United States runs all humane societies. They do not! They do help animals through legislation and in disasters, but do not have a shelter themselves.
Some Humane Societies, like the Humane Society of Loudoun County (HSLC), are “limited admission”. Limited admission organizations sometimes have their animals for many months, and use foster homes. That means they do not have to euthanize animals to make room for new pets they take on. And many, like HSLC, have other programs that help the local animal population, like a pet pantry (Loudoun Pet Pantry) so families in need don’t have to surrender their pets simply because they can’t afford to feed them, partial help when medical emergencies arise, and resources for behavioral issues. The Community cat program is major part of HSLC, helping to reduce the numbers of feral cats while improving their health and quality of life.
And some Humane Societies are “open door” with animal control contracts, just like a city shelter, so they do euthanize to make room. Many “open door” humane societies run programs that have helped reduce pet overpopulation in the cities they serve. They may have the pets for many weeks, and know more about their behavior and health than a city shelter.
So it’s important to understand the nature of your local animal rescues and support them for the benefit of your community. We all work together to help animals but we are separate, independent organizations.
Our TNR program can help if you know of any Community Cats or help take care of a feral colony. Our volunteers will help by humanely Trapping the cats, transporting them to our vet partners, where they will be vaccinated, microchipped and Neutered or spayed. Then after a day or two of recovery the cats will be Returned to their colony. Afterwards, the cats live healthier lives without the unwanted behaviors associated with unfixed cats.
THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE.
TNR is a core component of the No Kill Equation and helps reduce the overpopulation of community (feral) cats. We don’t want anyone to be afraid to ask for help because they can’t handle the financial burden of vaccinating and neutering multiple cats.
If you need help with Community Cats, you can fill out a TNR request form HERE
We also have a Working Cats program to relocate cats that are in danger to new homes in barns, wineries, breweries, greenhouses, sheds, garages or other suitable places. OUR WORKING CATS PROGRAM IS ALSO FREE OF CHARGE.
To fill out a request for Working Cats, fill out an application HERE
If you’d like to volunteer to help our TNR or Working Cats programs by Trapping, Transporting, helping our various Colony Caretakers, or to help get Working cats relocated, email us at helpanimals@humaneloudoun.org.
The Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) 8th grade classes at J.L. Simpson Middle School in Leesburg invited HSLC to help them with their Citizenship Unit. Jennifer Allen, middle school FACS teacher, asked us to be part of their learning experience to describe what our organization is, who we help, the current programs we are working on, and how middle school students might get involved. After HSLC and other organizations speak to the classes over the course of a couple of weeks, they will develop a presentation and propose a project to complete as a volunteer effort.
HSLC president, Juanita Easton, spoke with the two classrooms of 20 students each on Oct 3rd. They were interactive experiences with the students following the presentation with questions about animal care, adoptions, fostering and sharing stories of their animal experiences. She left them with the organization brochures, information on how to “be a voice” for animals in need of help, a list of suggestions on how the students can help animals at school, their neighborhoods, and around the community, in addition to a list of possible careers that involve animals.
The youth of our communities are the future so it is always a privilege to help them understand how they can be involved with the welfare of animals.
The HSLC Humane Education Program is available to all youth and adult groups, such as classrooms, after school programs, scout troops, and community organizations. Contact us at helpanimals@humaneloudoun.org if you would like us to address your group.
Join us to learn about the Humane Society of Loudoun County! We will have a presentation on our 501(3)c organization and the ways that you can become involved with us. Mingle with other volunteers while enjoying light refreshments and receive detailed information on our programs.
Click here to register!